Chapter 18 –The truth is in the trade

Sailing in the Indian Ocean is determined by the monsoon winds, which are caused by the difference in temperature between the massive Himalayan Plateau and the sea.

Monsoons are so predictable – and so important – that they were later incorporated into calendars, which illustrated the highly synchronised system of regular shipping between Egypt, East Africa, India and the Gulf. Ships sailing from Egypt for India would be carried by the southwest monsoon which ends in September. They could then trade in India until it was time for the northeast monsoon starting in December, which would carry them back home to Egypt and, via the Red Sea–Nile Canal, back to the Mediterranean. They had a free ride each way.

India had three main ports – Lothal, Cambay and Muziris – which were important in the Bronze Age, specialising in exports.

Gavin believes that there was a substantial exchange of goods and ideas. Minoan ships took copper and tin to India and returned with ivory and cotton and perhaps many Indian ideas about town planning, civic engineering and astronomy. Sooner or later, Indian shipowners would have wanted their vessels to accompany Minoan ships across the world, to collect valuable goods for themselves.

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